This is a truly a major disaster and it isn't over with in Japan, 2 nuclear plants are having cooling problems with their reactors. As Neobie said, my heart goes out to all the victims of the earthquake and tsunami. I am praying for our RFF family members around the world to be safe and sound.

If anyone wishes to donate, be careful, fake sites are popping up but here are 3 that are safe:

American Red Cross Go to http://www.redcross.org to donate to Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami or donate $10 by texting REDCROSS to 90999

Salvation Army: Text either the word JAPAN or QUAKE to 80888 to make a $10 donation or call 1-800-SALARMY or go to http://www.disaster.salvationarmyusa.org. Mail checks made out to "Japan Earthquake Relief" to the Salvation Army World Service Office, International Relief Fund, P.O. Box 630728, Baltimore, MD 21263

CNN has an "Impact your world" blog that also contains information and links to reputable aid organizations both for the current disaster in Japan and for other aid emergencies when they arise;http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/impact.your.world/

CBS is sponsoring its first-ever Reality Mud Run, in which reality stars from CBS's hit series SURVIVOR, THE AMAZING RACE and BIG BROTHER will run alongside members of the general public to raise funds for cancer research through SURVIVOR's Stand Up To Cancer fundraising team. The 5K run will begin at 8:00 AM on Saturday, Sept. 10 at Oak Canyon Park Blue Diamond Haul Road, in Silverado, Calif., near Irvine.

For the Reality Mud Run, CBS has partnered with Around the World Productions, which was founded by Burton Roberts, who competed in SURVIVOR: PEARL ISLANDS, and Alex Boylan, who competed in the second season of THE AMAZING RACE. The event is being sponsored by 7UP.

Richard Hatch, winner of the first Survivor, and a whole host of beloved reality stars want you and your team of three to join them for the April 5-7, 2013 Reality Rally. This year's 3rd annual event promises to be bigger and put even more "fun" into the "funds" that this event raises to benefit local Temecula charity, Michelle's Place Breast Cancer Resource Center. Registration is now open, so sign your team up early in order to race with your favorite star!

Reality Rally is a four hour ..."Amazing Race" style game, where teams go all throughout Old Town Temecula. The competition involves 13 crazy activities and fun challenges, all for the bragging rights of being The Top Team. It is an experience, it is a game, no running needed. Most important, the event raises funds and community awareness for Michelles Place Breast Cancer Resource Center. Over 100 reality stars from over 35 TV shows including: Richard Hatch (Winner of the first Survivor Borneo and participant in Survivor All Stars), Jonathan Novack (The Bachelorette), Mike Skupin (runner up of Survivor Philippines), Brendon and Rachel (Big Brother and Amazing Race) and Denise Stapely the winner of Survivor Phillipines are excited to join the Reality Rally participants this year. A complete listing of stars and shows can be found at

REALITY 2nd Annual GOLF TOURNAMENTFriday, 5 April 2013.07:30 until 14:00 in PDT. Play your favorite game with a Reality Star! Join us on Friday, April 5th, 2013 at the beautiful Pala Mesa Resort for our Reality Rally CHARITY Golf Tournament benefiting Michelle's Place. You have the choice to play with 3 friends & a Reality Star or 4 friends. Get registered today at www.realityrally.com to secure your spot. Your registration includes an 18 hole scramble, fun prizes, scorers, lunch, and a ticket to the evening Celebrity Reception generously hosted by the beautiful Wilson Creek Winer...y and many favorite local restaurants. Registration will begin at: 7:30amShotgun Start is at: 8:30amCost to Play: $110**Become a SPONSOR and get a FOURSOME for FREE***For more information on this fun-filled event, please contact: Mark@realityrally.comWe look forward to seeing you all there!!!

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Red Carpet Celebration!

Saturday, 6 April 2013.18:00 until 22:00 in PDT. Make it a glitzy, glamorous night out at the beautiful South Coast Winery. Celebrate after a fun day at the Rally in Old Town during a magnificent “Red Carpet Celebration” where the Rally winners will be announced. Watch a parade of Stars down the Red Carpet, enjoy special dishes from Temecula’s finest restaurants, mix & mingle with stars and familiar faces that make Reality Rally the amazing event it is and enjoy the music by The Kelly Cowan All Star Band highlighting several of the Reality Star musicians and local well known artists. !!!!Wine and beer will be available for purchase.Ticket Pricing: $45.00 pre-sale or $50.00 at the door.For more information & ticket purchase, please visit our Reality Rally website at: www.realityrally.com

« Last Edit: January 28, 2013, 02:20:57 PM by georgiapeach »

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RFF's Golden Rule:Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.

I encourage any of you in the area to become part of Reality Rally!! This is one of the BEST charitable events out there, Gillian does a wonderful job! Here's your chance to meet many of your favorites and contribute to a great cause!

Touched by the people of Botswana, TAR 22 is giving back! LoveBotswana has a 25 yr history of working to reduce the spread of HIV, help abandoned babies, educate future leaders, and empower women and caregivers. If you can, please donate & share this message! $10 (one latte, lol?) will support full care for one child for 24 hours! The world is smaller than you think, let's all help our neighbors! #LoveBotswana

It would be helpful if links to twitter accounts, FB accounts, etc. could be included and labels (with info on whose account and charity or event); makes it easier for people to copy and paste into their feeds to tweet or share.

Misti and I applied for The Amazing Race for selfish reasons. We wanted a once in a lifetime adventure together and a chance to win a million dollars. What we didn’t realize at the time was that God had much bigger plans for us (yes I will be talking about God and faith and purpose; if you are offended please stop reading now and feel free to unfriend us or unfollow our fan page).

Leg 10 of our Season 25 Amazing Race journey took us to Manila, Philippines. The leg started badly for us with us receiving bad information from a travel agent in Singapore. We ended up on a later flight than every other team. We raced to a flower stand to find out we were not able to get our next clue until morning and would be on level ground with the other 3 remaining teams. When we returned to the flower stand in the morning our next clue took us on a Jeepney ride through downtown Manila. It was that ride that opened a door in our lives that will forever change the course of not only our lives but our children’s as well. On that ride through Manila Misti and I witnessed poverty like we had never seen before firsthand. As I sit here and write this that almost sounds silly. We all know there is poverty out there. We have all seen the commercials on TV for Feed the Children and Unicef. Misti and I have even had ongoing sponsorships of children with Child Fund (formerly Christian Children’s Fund) for about 15 years. There was just something about that day and seeing it firsthand that opened our eyes and our hearts like never before. I guess the old proverb “when the student is ready the teacher will appear” rang true for us that day.

As parents, the site of small children bathing themselves on the sidewalk and playing naked in the streets just feet from speeding cars without any supervision was heartbreaking. The network of plywood and random building materials somehow fastened together in what they call a home is beyond explanation. There are not words that can begin to explain the feeling of what we saw that day. We raced to a first place finish that day but the weight of what we had seen continued to weigh on us. Our post leg interview was exceptionally emotional with the producers asking about what we had seen and how it had affected us. We were both in tears. That night in the hotel room Misti and I vowed to return to the Philippines on a mission trip to make whatever impact we could.

Last summer when I began looking into the logistics of coordinating a dental mission trip it quickly became obvious to me that I had a daunting task ahead of myself. What I realized was that there was much more effort that would go into getting equipment and supplies to our destination than would go into caring for patients. As I asked people who had done mission trips to other areas of the world I heard nightmares of equipment and supplies being confiscated or delayed by customs. I heard of trips where only a few patients per day were treated. Make no mistake, I also heard of the wonderful rewards of giving to those without the resources to help themselves.

After a short time of feeling discouraged and overwhelmed, I realized that what we needed to do was not to go on a mission trip to the Philippines but to build a dental clinic in the Philippines. A clinic where doctors could take their staffs and give back without having to worry about the supplies or equipment they need. Now that we know what we have to do, it’s time to figure out how to do it. That is the purpose of this post.

We need help. If the thought of a mission trip was overwhelming, the thought of building a free clinic is beyond comprehension. I cannot even begin to imagine the obstacles that we will encounter. There are so many details that we haven’t even begun to think about. I know how much time and effort it takes to build an office minutes from home. How will we ever be able to build an office halfway around the world, in a foreign land with a foreign government and foreign regulations? Somehow I know that if we follow the path that God has laid before us that we will be successful.

As Misti and I have been very blessed with the growth and success of our practices we have both had the need to expand and build new offices. As a result we have most of the equipment we need to build a full functioning dental office. We have chairs, delivery units, a compressor, a vacuum system, some sterilization equipment and digital x-ray sensors. There are still some things that we need. We could definitely use another autoclave and a digital pano. Most immediately we need a shipping container to store and eventually ship all of our equipment to the Philippines. We are definitely open to corporate sponsorship as we will obviously have an ongoing need for supplies. We will also need a cloud based practice management software and eventually computers. We will also need dentists and their staffs to give their time and skill once we get this up and running.

Misti and I are planning a trip to Manila in late March to begin looking for a site for the clinic. We have no idea where to begin and this is the place that we probably need the most help. Please share this post in the hope that someone will read this who can assist us in finding an affordable space.

Thank you for your time in reading through this epically long post. I believe that we were all put here to serve others and to have the maximum positive impact that we can, not only on our family, friends and neighbors, but also on those halfway around the world. I also believe that God has bigger plans for us than we can imagine if we only walk through the doors that he opens and follow the path he lays before us. Thanks in advance to all those who will help us follow that path.

“For even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many.” -Mark 10:45

Special thanks to Dr. Ed Carney for today’s sermon and giving me the goad I needed to quit doing nothing.

I love that you and Misti are looking for a way to give back. I think TAR has touched all of our lives far beyond the reach of a "TV Show".

I am going to ask any of you RFFer's who have contacts in the Philippines to please help Jim if you can. Someone may be a dentist, know a dentist, know someone in any of the many other areas on Jim's long list of needs to make this happen. If you have friends or family that might be able to help either post it here or PM Jim.

Let's see if we can help make this dream come alive!!

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RFF's Golden Rule:Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.

If you have been following all the twitter and FB posts by the racers at "Give Kids the World" you have seen everyone having fun.

But this is serious, all your donations go to giving critically ill children a one week vacation with their families.

Please donate, every dollar counts! Chose a racer or do a general donation... all are appreciated! Despite having earned about $140,000 for the kids, the goal is $160,000. Can't bear to think of the kids who WON'T get to go.

Donations open for the next 12 days I think:

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Asking our #TARFamily near and far to help Hearts of Reality give ill children their own "amazing" moment. Choose a favorite racer here (or a Survivor, BB, or other reality star!) and donate what you can. If we all donated the cost of a latte what a difference we could make together!